Assistant fire chief rages at woman

Whatever craziness that lurks in our little Village of Buckeye Lake has a way of showing up at the Village Hall. It is as if there is some rule that when you enter you leave your common sense outside.

Meetings are an important part of running a village. Even though I believe most people run for public office because they think they can make a difference, they are amateurs under pressure and often things don’t go right.

The last meeting I attended was a update report from Mayor Baker’s fire department advisory committee. During public comments, I raised the issue of recruiting volunteers. According to Captain Dave Ruton, the department recruits by placing a sign in front of the fire station. When people inquire, they are given an application to complete. Applications are then reviewed, including a background check. Ruton went on to say out of 11 applications received, only one meet the qualifications. The other ten applicants had criminal records.

From what I could gather from this exchange, this is how our fire department recruits period. The same thing keeps producing the same results. One would think after a few years they would come up with a little different strategy.

When I finished my comments, Assistant Fire Chief Rod Riley, who was sitting in front of me, stood up. I have a hearing problem, so I only heard parts of what he said, but others present have told me it was a vicious attack on my character.

Finally, not Fire Chief Pete Leindecker, not Mayor Rick Baker, nor Council President Charlene Hayden, but council member Kaye Hartman told him to stop his tirade. With that he turned, towering over me and shaking his finger in my face, shouted, “And you are a terrible person.” He then turned and left, saying he had to get out of there.

It must have been a proud moment for like thinkers. To me it was sad to think a 75 year-old woman could reduce a man to such rage.